Public Knowledge Welcomes Sen. Wyden’s ACCESS to Recordings Act

Today, Senator Wyden (D-OR) introduced the ACCESS to Recordings Act, which would extend federal copyright protection to pre-1972 sound recordings, and in doing so, harmonize them with their modern counterparts. Public Knowledge applauds Senator Wyden for acknowledging the injustices posed by the current system and fighting to rationalize our copyright law.

The CLASSICS Act, a flawed bill that would hurt consumers, was recently incorporated into the Music Modernization Act, a larger bill addressing other issues in music licensing. Public Knowledge supports the ACCESS to Recordings Act because it provides full federal protection for pre-1972 sound recordings -- something the CLASSICS Act avoids.

The following can be attributed to Meredith Rose, Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge:

“We cannot kick the can on this issue any longer. The disparate treatment of pre-1972 recordings is an ongoing injustice that harms not only artists, but consumers and non-commercial actors as well. Rather than attempting to cobble together a ‘hack’ that protects only the profitable aspects of copyright (streaming) while conveniently avoiding the unprofitable (a reasonable term length), the ACCESS to Recordings Act provides full, definite, and comprehensive legal protections for all players in the copyright ecosystem, while harmonizing the public domain and accessibility protections for legacy recordings. We applaud Senator Wyden for championing solutions that work for both artists and consumers, and look forward to working with his office to move this bill forward.”